Cyanobacterial diversity in Salar de Huasco, a high altitude saline wetland in northern Chile: an example of geographical dispersion?

Abstract

The diversity of Cyanobacteria in water and sediment samples from four representative sites of the Salar de Huasco was examined using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and analysis of clone libraries of 16S rRNA gene PCR products. Salar de Huasco is a high altitude (3800 m altitude) saline wetland located in the Chilean Altiplano. We analyzed samples from a tributary stream (H0) and three shallow lagoons (H1, H4, H6) that contrasted in their physicochemical conditions and associated biota. Seventy-eight phylotypes were identified in a total of 268 clonal sequences deriving from seven clone libraries of water and sediment samples. Oscillatoriales were frequently found in water samples from sites H0, H1 and H4 and in sediment samples from sites H1 and H4. Pleurocapsales were found only at site H0, while Chroococcales were recovered from sediment samples of sites H0 and H1, and from water samples of site H1. Nostocales were found in sediment samples from sites H1 and H4, and water samples from site H1 and were largely represented by sequences highly similar to Nodularia spumigena. We suggest that cyanobacterial communities from Salar de Huasco are unique - they include sequences related to others previously described from the Antarctic, along with others from diverse, but less extreme environments.

Molecular Fingerprinting of Cyanobacteria from River Biofilms as a Water Quality Monitoring Tool

“…In addition, the TGGE fingerprints revealed greater genetic diversity than the morphological observations by microscopy, as has been noted in other studies (33,40). However, according to the databases, we found many bands that corresponded to uncultured bacteria, as has been observed in other studies using TGGE/DGGE techniques (41,42). The explanation could be that the organisms isolated and cultivated to date represent only a small fraction of the true microbial diversity (43).…”

Microbial diversity and trophic components of two high altitude wetlands of the Chilean Altiplano

“…in higher taxa, refl ecting the limited tolerance to salinity shown by the majority of freshwater invertebrates and vertebrates. It has been reported that spatial and temporal changes in the Huasco salar, located 40 km from these study sites, have resulted in a distinct microbial community (Dorador et al 2008b; with likely consequences for higher trophic levels. Here, the culturable bacterial diversity obtained was restricted to the culture media used, nevertheless it was possible to describe at least fi ve different bacterial phyla and 13 genera.…”

“…These taxa participate actively in different biogeochemical cycles (Dorador et al 2008a) and exhibit marked temporal and spatial variation according to gradients of salinity, temperature and solar radiation (Dorador et al 2008b;. To date, there has been little consideration of the trophic role of microbial taxa in these ecosystems.…”

Abenquines A–D: aminoquinone derivatives produced by Streptomyces sp. strain DB634

“…Previous studies have shown that salt lakes of this area harbor unique communities of anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria 1 and cyanobacteria. 2 Recently, we have isolated a number of actinobacteria from arid soils of the Atacama Desert and characterized them in regard to their potential to synthesize secondary metabolites. In this study, we present the secondary metabolite profile of one of the isolated Streptomyces strains.…”